Lauren Daigle’s Music Of Acceptance In A Post COVID World

LAUREN DAIGLE’S MUSIC OF ACCEPTANCE IN A POST COVID WORLD

Grammy Award-winning Christian singer Lauren Daigle recently spoke about going through a dark time during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lauren says she found healing in music amid a mental health scare and panic attacks. Post-pandemic studies show Lauren was not alone.

The COVID-19 pandemic like 9/11 seems to have changed all of us.

We now seem to live in a more selfish, self-saturated society with massive amounts of mental health issues, an epidemic of drug addictions, and an unprecedented amount of outbursts of anger and violence. A study by the Barna Group also shows Christians holding to a biblical world view is changing.

In what Barna called the first national study of its kind, the incidence of biblical worldview declined to a mere 4%, down one-third from the 6% recorded just months before the pandemic lockdowns started in March 2020.

A biblical worldview, the survey said, is one in which the entirety of a person’s “ideas about all dimensions of life and eternity are based on biblical principles and commands.”

In an interview with People magazine, Lauren opened up about how writing music helped her through her mental health issues.

Daigle recently released a self-titled album through mainstream label Atlantic Records, which was done in a partnership with Centricity Music.

Lauren said this album is no different than a ‘You Say’ moment? Lauren said she “found herself” through this new album.

However, since the release of “Look Up Child” it does seem Lauren has joined the society in moving further and further away from a biblical worldview.

The redefinement of marriage, the expansion of genders and sexual identification, and the increased emerging language used to describe God appears to be moving people’s understanding away from the Bible and more toward a centricity of religions combined to create a “diverse positive vibe” of happy thought and feelings Christianity.

During the time of Jeremiah the leaders cried “peace, peace” when there was no peace. They would rather have false peace than real peace.

Lauren doesn’t seem to be an exception to this. Since 2018 and the release of her “Look Up Child” Album, Lauren has stepped into the Christian limelight and has had many opportunities to greatly influence the Biblical issues of our day.

Four years ago, Nati, a celebrity publicist asked Lauren, “Do you feel homosexuality is a sin?” She responded, “I can’t honestly answer on that…I can’t say one way or the other. I’m not God.”

However the Bible clearly defines the practice of homosexuality in both the Old and New Testaments as sin.

Soon after this refusal to say what she believed about homosexuality, Lauren was  in an interview with 104.3 FM, the host asked Daigle if she considered herself a Christian artist. She responded, “I feel like those labels get put on you by other people…But I think part of me is just an artist because it encompasses everything. That’s how I see myself.”

Even though Lauren’s music to date is classified as Christian and her awards have come predominately from the Christian genre, she sees herself as “other.”

Just recently Lauren got asked by The Guardian her view on her home state, Louisiana’s, recent change in the abortion ban. She responded, “I have no idea, I’m terrible. I know that we have a Democrat governor but I don’t know where our abortion laws are in Louisiana.”

Lauren wrote a song called, “Rescue.” And the song says, “I will send out an army to find you…I will never stop marching to reach you. In the middle of the hardest fight.”

Lauren, why not stand up for the unborn as this song certainly gives voice to the helpless? I can’t think of anyone more helpless than an unborn baby. Now maybe Lauren doesn’t want to use her platform to address controversial or barrier issues, but she told the Guardian, “it’s in my blood to see barriers break.” It doesn’t seem standing up for the unborn is one of them.

Recently in an interview with People Magazine Daigle said, “I’ll take the stigma [of being a Christian artist] if I get to show people hope and kindness and a different representation of God than maybe we’ve seen in the past.”

But what is interesting with that statement is even People Magazine said her latest LP features songs that are borderline secular (not sacred).

I am not sure what it means for a song to be “borderline secular.” But here is what I do know. Jesus message to us and the way in which He lived and wants us to live is counter cultural to the world. As Christian leaders we are not to move more toward secularism to get a hearing and acceptance from the world. We are to proclaim Christ’s message that cost Him his life. Lauren said she “found” herself and her life through this album.

Jesus says in Matthew 10:39, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Popularity is fleeting, money is temporary, and “finding ourselves” is an unfruitful eternal endeavor. Jesus wants us to lose our lives for Him and in doing so, we will find His life for us. Jesus said, John 15:18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Lauren told People in her interview, it is her goal for everyone to be accepted. This is not the call of the Christian life. The call of the Christian life is for everyone to accept Jesus. Apart from His acceptance, our acceptance of others means nothing.

Joshua said it best, “Choose this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Blessings,

Pastor Kelly